Task force has reunited 100 children with families separated under Trump

The Biden administration’s Family Reunification Task Force on Thursday said it had reunited 100 children separated from their parents at the border under a previous policy instituted by former President Trump.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the reunifications on Twitter on Thursday, saying the task force had reached the threshold.

This week our Family Reunification Task Force reunified the 100th family separated under the prior administration’s cruel policy.

We are not doing it alone. We could not do it without our partners in the community who work tirelessly, every day, in support of those in need.

— Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (@SecMayorkas) December 23, 2021

The Homeland Security secretary also said that their task force had also “we have identified and registered an additional 345 children for reunification.”

The development comes a week after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that the Justice Department would no longer be negotiating with the lawyers of families separated under the Trump-era policy for payment settlements. 

The idea of paying families separated by family separation policy enacted under Trump was blasted by Republicans, including Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who claimed they were “payouts.”

The decision drew harsh criticism from the ACLU. 

“Candidate Biden promised to help these children and families. But today, President Biden is shamefully playing politics with their lives and futures. We will never forget who takes action to help these families — and who turns their backs on them,” the ACLU said on Twitter earlier this year.

Mayorkas said that families who were unified through the task force would be able to live and work in the United States, saying that they would be granted humanitarian parole.

“We have a lot more work to do. We are dedicated to finding every family and giving them the chance to reunite and to heal,” he said.